That’s exactly what the Lehigh Valley Phantoms gave their fans last season, and when those fans walk into the PPL Center Saturday night for the team’s 2018-19 season-opening game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Atlantic Division banner will be hanging from the top of the arena.

Fans will receive rally towels proclaiming the Phantoms the reigning Atlantic Division champions of the AHL.

And the team will return to the ice with a bulwark of players from last year’s squad, along with several key newcomers, as the Phantoms look to bring home the season’s ultimate prize, the Calder Cup.

The Phantoms made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last year before getting swept by the Toronto Marlies, who ended up winning the Calder Cup.

“We had a great run last year,” pointed out Phantoms fourth-year head coach Scott Gordon, who is once again behind the bench with assistant coach and former Philadelphia Flyer Kerry Huffman.

“We had a great regular season, and to go to the semifinals, to be in the top four in the league, was huge. But with that, we’ve got a good core of people coming back and some prospects we’re excited about. When you look at what we were able to accomplish last season, we’re trying to build on that.”

Gone however, is fan favorite Danick Martel, who was snapped up off waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But Cole Bardreau, the Cornell graduate who played just 45 games last season due to injuries, is back and looking to make a big impact as the team hunts for its first Calder Cup since 2004-05 when the team played in Philadelphia.

“We’re just building off that success from last year,” the 25-year-old Bardreau said. “Every year I’ve been here we’ve taken positive steps in the right direction and advanced that much further, in the playoffs the last two years. This year is the year we need to take that final step and bring home the Calder.”

Varone, agrees, but knows there is a lot of grinding to do in the regular season to get to that point.

“Obviously the goal is to get back,” the 27-year-old Varone said, “but that’s a long way away. There’s still a lot of process, a lot of things to go through until then, but obviously it would be disappointing not to get back to the same spot and hopefully close it out.”

The Phantoms are expecting to pick up a huge boost in goal. Last season, the team was led in goal by Alex Lyon (16-8-2 regular season, 6-5 playoffs) and Dustin Tokarski (20-8-7). But Tokarski signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers this summer, and Lyon is injured and still on the Flyers’ roster.

As of Wednesday, Anthony Stolarz, the original rookie goalie for the Phantoms when the team moved to the Lehigh Valley for the 2014-15 season, is backing up for the Flyers.

That means that rookie Carter Hart, the MVP of the WHL as a junior last season, a three-time winner of the Del Wilson Trophy as the top goalie, and the first person to win the CHL Goaltender of the Year twice, is expected to be the team’s starter. Hart’s 26 career shutouts in juniors are the most in Canadian Hockey League history.

With the goalie merry-go-round in full swing in Philly due to injuries, Jason Kasdorf and Branden Komm are the backups to begin the season.

Hart got a lot of action with the Flyers during preseason and is ready to go.

“It’s faster than the junior level,” he said after the Flyers played an exhibition game against the New York Islanders at the PPL Center. “The biggest thing is the guys shoot harder. You don’t have that 16- or 17-year-old kid coming down the wing with the flop shot. The game is a lot faster from the junior level for sure, but I think you just have to adapt and adjust.”

Another rookie expected to make a big impact is 20-year-old winger Carsen Twarynski, who came out of juniors at the end of last season and played in five regular-season games plus two playoff games with the Phantoms.

At 6-2, 198 pounds, Twarynski made a big impression during Flyers training camp before being sent down last week.

“There’s a lot of positives for myself at camp with the Flyers,” he said. “I’m going to take that and work on my stuff that I need to. I’m going to keep playing good down here and help this team win … Obviously playing five preseason games in the NHL gave me a little bit of a confidence boost when I got down here.”

For his part, Gordon understands that he’s not just coaching the Phantoms to win, but for players like Hart and Twarynski to develop into the players the Flyers need them to be for the parent club’s success.

“We’ve got five new forwards and we’re pretty excited about all of them,” the coach said. “They all had good junior careers and now their pro careers are exciting. They’re good prospects. It’s nice that your coaching’s got a purpose.”

As team captain, veteran Colin McDonald helps translate Gordon’s message for the newcomers, especially when it comes to working the “greasy areas” deep between the hash marks in front of the crease.

“It’s teaching you’ve got to get to the hungry areas, get to those tough areas,” he said. “It’s not easy to do. Not every player does it. It’s not in everyone’s DNA, but it’s something we’re trying to implement here.”

Opening night on Saturday should be a banner evening. There’s an Atlantic Division champion looking to bring more success to Lehigh Valley.